Labour of Love

For the past 2 weekends I have been immersed in labour, midwifery and birthing and the community that supports it.

The first week-end was the Midwifery & Birth Conference.

It was a full weekend schedule of not only wonderful talks, panel discussions, and workshops, but it was also just amazing to be mixed in with such a wonderful group of amazing women (and a few great men) who do such very good work in the field of pregnancy, labour and birthing.

There was a marvelous waterbirth workshop hosted by my midwife, Marianne Littlejohn, and also a wonderful Trust and Stillness workshop facilitated by the wonderful Robyn Sheldon.

 I loved it! The Conference was very inspiring and emotionally affirming. I am feeling grateful and happy to be involved in this space and community again. I REALLY find it very fulfilling on a very deep level. :)

Then this past weekend we went on the Mama Bamba Antenatal Retreat hosted by Robyn, and it was wonderful! I really loved it. It was such a calm, loving, gentle, and accepting space. And so nice to be surrounded by like-minded beautiful people - there were 5 couples. It was really bonding, empowering and inspirational. I especially love how the whole group trusts and believes in their bodies and the birth process, and how even those who were planning a 'safer' option (by going into hospital) were strongly considering changing their plans by the end - including the men. Robyn, who runs the course, has got such a lovely energy and I really enjoy her. Her guided meditations are fabulous.

With the previous antenatal class I went to (with Quinn's pregnancy), it was a very (SA birth landscape) demographically representative group (mostly planned c/s or epidurals at least) so we were seen as the weird freaky hippies and by FAR the most out there with planning a home waterbirth with a midwife. No one related to us, and most of the focus was on hospital protocol and medicalisations.

In this group we were the norm. :)

It was from 10:00-17:00 Sat & Sun and it just flew by. It was held in a fabulous chilled and relaxed old farmhouse on a wine farm in Stellenbosch and we stayed in Stellenbosch for the week-end, so it was such a nice and mellow and 'sacred' space. <3